Should I let DD fail Grade 1 or stop her doing exam? Advice please!

flowery - re violin Grades. Yes, Grade 8 by age ten is indeed ambitious, though maybe not impossible. Remember, you can 'skip' some Grades if he is confident to move further ahead. Also, Grade 5 Theory is probably needed for the higher Grades, and would be a big 'ask' at age nine or ten.

[I follow Nicola Benedetti on-line, but I don't know what age she was when when she got to Grade 8. If I find out, I'll try and let you know!]

Yes - well done!

I think it is always worth 'having a go' at any kind of exam or test; the worst that can happen is you don't pass first time.

So now on to the next Grades?! Remember, you don't have to take EVERY one, but can skip ones if you become confident and capable. Also, you probably still need Grade 5 Theory to progress to the higher playing Grades. 'Theory' sounds daunting, but music is governed by the laws of Physics and is nothing like as 'mysterious' as people might imagine. In many cases, it probably isn't explained or taught sympathetically or thoroughly.

Lovely news, well done to your dd!

I told you! :))) Congratulations!!!! Imagine if you did not let her do her exam :)

Well done to her! She deserves it - that is a lot of practice!

Congratulations! But I am not surprised - all that practice had to pay off! She deserves her success!

I pulled my dd out of her Grade 1 exam a few weeks before.

Her pieces wernt good, she hasn't even begun to learn her 3rd piece properly until recently & she appeared to be memorising them so she couldn't actually read the music.

Her sight reading was appalling & the teacher had done no aural tests with her. Dh is a music teacher & I have a music degree so we had some idea.

The teacher had entered her fir the exam via school despite be telling him that she had been cast in a local panto so would miss some lessons, plus she was going on a school residential.

Dd did lots of practice, but it wasn't good practice. She didn't know what she was supposed to be doing.

She took the exam at the next session & got merit.

Ooh good luck to her!

My dd failed grade2 - lack of effort.... It taught her that she needed to try harder and practise and it gave her a place to fail that really didn't matter in the grand scheme of life. Aced her grade 3.

Oh sorry Mistigri. Sometimes people think you need exams to do things like audition for the NYO, when actually all you need is a very brief note from your teacher (or an exam).

Just to give a personal experience - I failed grade 1 piano on primary school and was pretty upset by it. I remember finding the experience of going to the exam really scary, so I suspect that's why I failed. I stopped doing piano soon after, and despite going back to a different teacher a few years later, I dropped out again as soon as she started talking exams.

I don't think I would ever have been agreat musician anyway, but I do think i would have stuck with it more and enjoyed it more if exams didn't feature. That's me though, and your dd may be a different personality. I've never been good at sticking with things if i am not good at them, or trying things I don't think I will be good at.

She doesn't want to be a (classical) musician claraschu and in any case as a later starter that's not realistic. She is however interested in a music-related degree (composition, sound engineering etc), probably in the UK (we're currently abroad), and most of the courses she's looked at seem to have exam requirements.

Mistigri, your DD won't need to do any exams if she wants to be a musician Most professional musicians didn't do exams and they aren't necessary. The kids at the Menuhin school don't do them, for instance-

I have a mix of exam and non-exam students, and students learning exam pieces and scales because they might want to do the exam but aren't sure. We do exams or video-exams if the children want to do them - for piano, that might be classical, jazz or contemporary. One of my best students won't play in public... but she is okay with the exam situation. Go figure. She's still young, maybe that will change.

I'd be inclined to have her do the exam as she's already entered, because I think withdrawing sends a negative message about her not being good enough (and as discussed above this is probably more about parental nerves than ability).

FWIW we don't do exams, although DD may need to do some eventually if she wants to pursue music professionally. The disadvantage is that there is less motivation to ensure that all aspects of playing progress in a balanced way. The advantage is that it makes it much easier to preserve the enjoyment and to enable students to develop musically rather than just technically. (You can do this alongside an exam syllabus of course but the temptation for parents and teachers alike is to spend too much time focussing on the next exam hurdle).

My husband and I are both musicians, and our three teenagers all play quite seriously (beyond grade 8 level, NYO, one at a specialist music school etc). I just feel that, yes, exams might sometimes be useful as a way to give a particular child a goal, but as a nationwide way of organising music education they stink.

I think concerts and small groups are much better and more natural ways for kids to be inspired and excited; the goal then is to communicate with other young musicians and with an audience, I think exams are a convenient shortcut and don't often do much to help kids really love music.

I have mixed feelings about exams. We have never pushed the dcs to do them and they really do them if they want to.

The weakest instrument any of the dcs have is dd's piano playing. There she did grade 1 - hated the repetitive playing of the pieces so decided to do no more grades. Changed teacher and did grade 2 within months but this was because he wanted to try and push her forward in small manageable chuncks. Passed but not well so I am not sure if we will do grade 3 but she is playing grade 3/4 pieces.

The strongest instrument is ds on the guitar. He plays bass and ordinary guitar. He has only done 1 exam - grade 4 on bass. His teacher describes him as the most gifted pupil he has ever had. Ds loves his guitar but he says that that is because he can play what he wants when he wants and does not have to spend forever on one piece. He hated preparing for the exam and says he is not keen to do more. As I don't want to kill his love of the instrument, I am fine with that.

On other intruments - they play to about grade 4 but have only done 1 exam between them.

I would leave it to your dd to decide and then think hard what you will get out of her doing any more exams.

I have mixed feelings about exams. We have never pushed the dcs to do them and they really do them if they want to.

The weakest instrument any of the dcs have is dd's piano playing. There she did grade 1 - hated the repetitive playing of the pieces so decided to do no more grades. Changed teacher and did grade 2 within months but this was because he wanted to try and push her forward in small manageable chuncks. Passed but not well so I am not sure if we will do grade 3 but she is playing grade 3/4 pieces.

The strongest instrument is ds on the guitar. He plays bass and ordinary guitar. He has only done 1 exam - grade 4 on bass. His teacher describes him as the most gifted pupil he has ever had. Ds loves his guitar but he says that that is because he can play what he wants when he wants and does not have to spend forever on one piece. He hated preparing for the exam and says he is not keen to do more. As I don't want to kill his love of the instrument, I am fine with that.

On other intruments - they play to about grade 4 but have only done 1 exam between them.

I would leave it to your dd to decide and then think hard what you will get out of her doing any more exams.

What is the point of doing the exam? i don't understand why people do music exams, except occasionally, when a child and teacher agree that it would be a good goal for some particular reason.

DS1 took his Grade 1 violin in the summer. He was excited about taking it and the prospect of a certificate. Once he passed (with merit), he was even more excited and his certificate is his prize possession. He is now doing his Grade 2, and has told me he plans to do all 8 grades by the time he is 10. I have informed him that that may not be entirely realistic () and they do get a lot more difficult, but the whole experience of doing an exam has certainly been extremely motivating for him. He sets himself very high standards and sometimes has doubts about how good he is, so an examiner verifying it was great for him.

Go to the exam board website and look at their pass/merit/distinction criteria. For ABRSM, remember you only need 100/150 to pass. You get points for even attempting certain parts of the exam. The pieces don't technically have to be note-perfect - the main thing is character and getting all the way through, with ummm... most of the notes correct. It does, you know, have to be recognisable, but you can make some slips as long as you keep going. The scales don't have to be perfect for a grade 1 pass, and the examiner won't be looking at the fingering so much as knowing which notes are in the scale and fluency.

On the ABRSM website there are resources for teachers, including 'mark-an-exam' activities, which you might want to take a look at. It's likely you're over-estimating the pass requirements, which isn't a bad thing in itself. Of course, I could be wrong and your child might not be ready, but have a closer look first. It sounds like she's working up? to the exam rather than taking an exam at a level she finds easy, though.

Definitely go for the exam. My children have taken 18 music exams between them over the years and only one was failed. And that was a surprise to both me and the teacher (blamed horrid examiner!)

My children are not exceptionally musical. Many a time I have been convinced they are going to fail. As someone who took music exams in childhood, I am always asking myself if the standard has fallen over the years or if I exaggerated how proficient I was when I took my exams. Either way, they can falter and make mistakes now and still pass very well.

I was told for Grade 1, being the first exam, the examiners bend over backwards to pass the children as they want to encourage them to continue playing. I don't know how true this is.

Of course, the problem might come later when she takes a higher grade and thinks she only has to be so good to pass but you will have to cross that bridge when you get to it.

I agree with the rest-go for exam, it is unlikely she fails it, I bet she will at least have merit. Besides, are you sure that you are not listening to the whole piece and make a judgement based on this, whilst the examiner will probably be looking at some technical bits and pieces and for delivering of those elements, which means that mistakes she is doing are not that essential for exam marking? Plus, you are saying, she is ok with the other parts of the exam... it all sounds like it is the mum's nerves and not daughter's ability to pass the exam tbh :)))) My dd is also doing violin and piano and I have the same problem with her piano, it just never sounds 100% right, but I accepted by now that taking into account her age and abilities violin is easier to master and polish (though her violin teacher reckons it is her teaching that makes violin easier :)). Piano requires more slow and methodical approach, more concentration and body coordination...
Just go for it and good luck! I hope you let us know when she has her deserved, and, I am sure, very good result!